Astrobotic

NASA has picked nine companies, ranging from startups to aerospace giants, to be eligible for future contracts to deliver payloads to the surface of the moon, but with no guarantee of business for any of them.

As we prepare to mark the 50th anniversary of the first Apollo lunar landings, we’re on the cusp of an exciting return to our nearest planetary neighbor with the administration’s 2019 proposed budget for NASA.

NASA is preparing to release a solicitation for the commercial transportation of payloads to the lunar surface, the latest step in the agency’s efforts to help promote the development of commercial lunar landers.

Team Hakuto, a Japanese group competing for the Google Lunar X Prize, announced Dec. 20 it has a verified contract to fly its rover on another team’s lander in 2017 after its initial partner dropped out of the competition.